drawn for a teacher's salary until all reports have been furnished, but in districts having superintendents the reports shall be made to them. The teacher shall also keep a register in a proper manner or forfeit her last month's salary, as also enforce the course of study and obedience on the part of pupils, but any teacher who shall maltreat or abuse any pupil shall be fined not to exceed $100. Preliminary training.-The object of the State normal school shall be the instruction and training of teachers for the common schools of the State, the control of which shall be vested in the State board, which shall elect all teachers and employees.

Meetings. The county superintendent in every county in which there are five or more school districts must hold one teachers' institute in each year, and every teacher employed in the county must attend the institute on penalty of losing pay, if teaching, or, if not teaching, of having certificate revoked, although such attendance, owing to the contradictory nature of the law in the premises, further rests on the permission of boards of trustees for the closing of schools during the time of such institute meeting. As to other counties the county superintendent shall confer with the State superintendent. The session of the institute shall last five to ten days. Funds for the institute shall be derived from the following sources: All moneys received from the issuance of teachers' certificates by the county superintendents, the appropriations from counties of the first class of $150 to $250, of the second class $100 to $200, of the third class $75 to $125, and of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth classes $25 to $100. The State board shall appoint experienced teachers to act as instructors in county institutes.

3. SCHOOLS.

Attendance-Character of instruction-Tert-books-Buildings.

Attendance-Every common school not otherwise provided for by law shall be open to the admission of all children 6 to 21 for at least three months in each year for six hours a day, exclusive of noon recess, but any board in any district having a population of five hundred or more may fix as the school day a less number of hours than six: Provided, That it be not less than four hours, except in the lowest primary grades, where the pupils may be dismissed after an attendance of two hours.

Every parent, guardian, or other person in the State of Montana having control of any child or children between the ages of 8 and 14 years shall be required to send such child or children to a public school, or private school taught by a competent instructor, for a period of at least twelve weeks in each year, six weeks of which time shall be consecutive: Provided, That such parent, guardian, or other person having control of such child or children shall be excused from such duty by the school board of the district whenever it shall be shown to their satisfaction, subject to appeal as provided by law, that one of the following reasons exists therefor, to wit:

First. That such child is taught at home by a competent instructor in such branches as are usually taught in the public schools.

Second. That such child has already acquired the branches of learning taught in the public schools.

Third. That such parent, guardian, or other person is not able, by reason of poverty, to properly clothe such child.

Fourth. That such child is in such a physical or mental condition (as declared by a competent physician, if required by the board) to render such attendance inexpedient or impracticable.

Fifth. That there is no school taught the requisite length of time within 24 miles of the residence of such child by the nearest traveled road: Provided, That no child shall be refused admission to any public school on account of race or color.

Any parent, guardian, or other person failing to comply with these provisions shall, upon conviction, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and fined in a sum not less than $5 nor more than $25 for each offense. Said action shall be prosecuted in the name of the State of Montana, before any court of competent jurisdiction, and all fines so collected shall be paid into the county treasury and placed to the credit of the school fund of the district in which the offense occurs. In school districts having a population of 25,000 or more, there shall be established an industrial school for the purpose of affording a place of confinement, discipline, instruction, and maintenance of children of compulsory

*

school age, who may be committed thereto according to prescribed conditions. Such schools to be established and conducted the same as other public schools. (Note.) One such school at Butte.

It shall be the duty of the district clerk of each school district, not later than twenty days after the commencement of each school term, to furnish the board of trustees with a list of names of all children between 8 and 14 years of age in attendance at school; and any district clerk failing to furnish such lists within the time specified herein shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be liable to a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $25 for each offense; and such fine, when collected, shall be paid into the county treasury and placed to the credit of the school fund of the district in which the offense occurs.

It shall be the duty of the school trustees of the district to inquire into all cases of neglect of the duty prescribed in this title and ascertain from the person neglecting the reason, if any, therefor, and they shall forthwith proceed to secure the prosecution of any offense occurring under this title; and any trustee neglecting to secure such prosecution for such offense within ten days after receiving the lists mentioned above, unless the person so complained of shall be excused by the board of trustees for the reason hereinbefore stated, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and liable to a fine in the sum of not less than $10 nor more than $50; and such fine, when collected, shall be paid into the county treasury and placed to the credit of the school fund of the district in which the offense occurs.

And such

In every school district having a population of 2,000 or more the board of trustees may appoint one person, who shall be designated as "truant officer," whose duty it shall be, acting discreetly, to apprehend on view all children between 8 and 14 years of age who are residents of the said district and who habitually frequent or loiter about public places and have no lawful occupation, and place such children when so apprehended in the public school. officer shall report all cases of truancy to his respective board of trustees immediately. Upon the receipt of such information from such truant officer " any member of the board of school trustees shall forthwith proceed to prosecute the person so offending as prescribed. Such officer shall be entitled to such compensation as shall be fixed by the board appointing him, which shall be paid out of the school fund.

If, upon the trial of any offense as charged, it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the court or judge trying the same that such prosecution was malicious, then the costs in such case shall be adjudged against the complainant or person instituting such proceedings and collected as fines in other cases. Character of instruction.—All common schools shall be taught in the English language, and instruction shall be given in the following branches: Reading, penmanship, orthography, written arithmetic, mental arithmetic, geography, English grammar, physiology, and hygiene with special reference to the effect of alcoholic stimulants and narcotics on the human system-history of the United States, civics of the United States and of Montana. No publication of a sectarian, partisan, or denominational character must be used or distributed in any school, or be made a part of any school library; nor must any sectarian or denominational doctrine be taught therein. Attention must be given during the entire course to the cultivation of manners, to the laws of health, physical exercise, ventilation, and the temperature of the school room. Whenever the interests of the district require it the board of trustees may establish a high school, employ a principal and other teachers, and grade the school; and the board may also determine what branches, in addition to those required by law, shall be taught in the public schools, subject, however, to the approval of the county superintendent.

Buildings. The board of trustees shall have custody of all the district school property. Any pupil who shall in any way cut, deface, or otherwise injure any schoolhouse, furniture, fence, or outbuilding, or any book belonging to other pupils, or to the district library shall be liable to suspension and punishment, and his parent or guardian for damage done. Any person willfully disturbing any public school or public school meeting shall be fined from $10 to $100. The national flag must be displayed on or near each schoolhouse.

4. FINANCES.

The principal of the State school fund shall remain irreducible and permanent. The said fund shall be derived from the following sources, to wit: Appropriations and donations by the State to this fund; donations and bequests

by individuals to the State or common schools; the proceeds of land and other property which revert to the State by escheat and forfeiture; the proceeds of all property granted to the State when the purpose of the grant is not specified or is uncertain; funds accumulated in the treasury of the State for the disbursement of which provision has not been made by law; the proceeds of the sale of timber, stone, materials, or other property from school lands other than those granted for specific purposes, and all moneys other than rental recovered from persons trespassing on said lands; 5 per cent of the proceeds of the sale of public lands lying within the State which shall be sold by the United States subsequent to the admission of the State into the Union, as approved by section 15 of the enabling act; the principal of all funds arising from the sale of lands and other property which have been and may hereafter be granted to the State for the support of common schools. The board of trustees, at any time when in their judgment it is advisable, may submit to the qualified electors of the district the question whether a tax, not to exceed 10 mills on each dollar on the taxable property in the district, shall be raised to purchase lots and to furnish additional school facilities for said district, or to maintain any school or schools in such district, or for building one or more schoolhouses, or for removing or building additions to one already built, for the purchase of globes, maps, charts, books of reference, and other appliances or apparatus for teaching, or for any or all of these purposes. Such election shall be called by posting notices in three public places in the district for at least fifteen days before the election, and conducted as nearly as practicable according to the provisions herein made for holding annual school elections. The notice shall contain the time and place of holding the election, the amount of money proposed to be raised, and the purpose or purposes for which it is intended to be used.

All moneys arising from the sale of town lots in virtue of the several acts of the legislature shall be paid into the county treasury for the benefit of the common schools of the school district in which such city or town is situated.

The State superintendent shall annually apportion the State school fund among the several counties of the State in proportion to the number of children of school age, and it shall be the duty of the State board of land commissioners to notify the State auditor of the amount. The county superintendent shall apportion all school moneys to the district quarterly.

No school district shall be entitled to receive any apportionment of school money which shall not have maintained a free school for at least three months during the next preceding school year, and every school district using text-books other than those prescribed by the State legislature (except for supplementary purposes) shall forfeit 25 per cent of their school fund for that year, and the county superintendent shall deduct that amount from the apportionment to be made to any district.

The board of trustees of any school district may, when authorized by a majority of the voters, submit to the electors the question of issuing bonds at a rate of interest no greater than 6 per cent per annum, but in no case shall the whole issue of bonds exceed 3 per cent of the taxable property within the district, but not to exceed in gross $250,000.

NEBRASKA.

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM.

State superintendent-State board of commissioners for managing school fundCounty superintendent-School districts-Rural districts-High school districts-City districts-Metropolitan city districts (Omaha)—Truant officers. The State superintendent of public instruction shall be elected biennially. He shall be furnished with an office at the seat of government, where he shall keep the records of his office, which are ever to be open to the governor, auditor, or committee of either branch of the legislature. He shall organize and, as far as practicable, attend teachers' institutes and provide proper instructors.

He shall visit such schools as he may have it in his power to visit, and witness and advise with teachers and school officers upon the manner in which they are conducted; decide disputed points in school law; prescribe forms for making all reports and regulations for all proceedings under the general school laws of the State; cause to be printed, in pamphlet form, the school laws and laws relat

ing to the school lands, with blank forms prescribed by him, and furnish each county superintendent with a sufficient number to supply the district officers within his jurisdiction; annually submit to the governor a report containing a statement of the school funds of the State, an account of the receipts and expenditures for the purpose of schools, a statement of the condition of the common schools and other educational institutions chartered or fostered by the State, embracing the number of schools of the several grades, number and average compensation of teachers, names and compensations of county superintendents, number of pupils attending the several schools, the enumeration of youth by counties, value of schoolhouses, sites, apparatus, and furniture; a statement of such plans as he may devise for the better management of the school funds and the school system, and such other statements as he may deem expedient to communicate relating to his office and to popular education.

He shall cause his report to be printed by the State printing board, and shall deliver at the commencement of each regular session of the legislature 50 copies thereof to the senate and 150 copies to the house of representatives, and shall transmit one copy to each county and city superintendent of schools in the State and one to each State superintendent of other States. He shall, semiannually, on or before the third Monday in June and the last Monday in December, make an apportionment of the funds which are in the treasury and which are applicable to the support of schools, which apportionment shall be based upon the enumeration of youth reported to the State superintendent by the county superintendents.

The State superintendent may appoint a deputy at a salary of $1,500 per

annum.

State board of commissioners for managing school lands.-(See FinancesFunds.)

It

County superintendent.-There shall be a county superintendent in each organized county, whose term of service shall be two years, and who shall be elected at the same time and in the same manner as other county officers. shall be the duty of the county clerk to notify the State superintendent of the election of the county superintendent at the time said election is ascertained. The county commissioners, or a majority of them present at the first regular session of each year, shall determine the compensation to be paid to the county superintendent, but such compensation shall not be less than $1,200 per annum in counties having a school population of 4,000 or more, not less than $1,000 in counties having a school population of 2,500 and less than 4,000, not less than $800 in counties having a school population of 1,500 and less than 2,500, and in counties having a school population less than 1,500 a per diem of not less than $4 or more than $5 for each day actually employed in the duties of his office, but the total compensation in this class shall not exceed $800 per annum. The number of days necessary for the duties of his office shall be determined by the county superintendent, but the number of days so employed shall not be less than twice the number of districts in such county, and one day for each precinct thereof for the examination of teachers. The superintendent shall file in the office of the county clerk a sworn statement of his account.

The county superintendent shall examine all persons offering themselves as teachers for the public schools, shall grant certificates, and may indorse a certificate in force in any other county of any State. He shall visit each of the schools of his county at least once a year to examine carefully into the discipline and modes of instruction and into the progress and efficiency of the pupils; counsel with the teachers and district boards as to the course of study to be pursued; note the condition of the schoolhouse and appurtenances thereto; suggest places for new schoolhouses to be erected and plans for warming and ventilating and the general improvement of the schoolhouse and grounds; promote, by public lectures, teachers' institutes, and such other means as he may devise, the improvement of the schools in his county; consult with the teachers and school boards to secure general and regular attendance of the children of his county upon the public schools; receive all such blanks and communications as may be directed to him by the State superintendent and dispose of the same in the manner directed by the State superintendent; examine into the correctness of the reports of the district boards and, when necessary, require the same to be amended. The county superintendent shall be subjected to such rules and instructions as the State superintendent may from time to time prescribe, to whom he shall report annually. Whenever, by death, resignation or removal, or otherwise, the office of the superintendent shall become vacant,, the county board shall have power to fill such vacancy.

He shall report the names of every blind or deaf person from 5 to 21 years of age to the superintendent of the State institution for each class, respectively. School districts.-There are four distinct classes of school districts in this State: (1) The rural or village school district, with a board of 3 members; (2) the high school district, with a board of 6 members; (3) the city school district, (a) cities having a population of more than 1,500 inhabitants and less than 5,000, with a board of 6 members, (b) cities having a population of more than 5,000 and less than 25,000, with a board of 6 or 9 members, optional, (c) cities having a population of more than 25,000 and less than 40,000, with a board of 5 members, at a salary of $300 each per annum, payable in monthly installments of $25 each (South Omaha), (d) cities having a population of more than 40,000 and less than 100,000, with a board of 5 members (Lincoln); (4) metropolitan cities, with a board of 15 members (Omaha).

Rural or village districts.-There shall be elected at the annual meeting a director, a moderator, and a treasurer, each of whom shall serve for three years, The director shall and one of whom shall retire annually. The moderator shall preside at the district meetings and countersign all orders on the treasurer. be clerk of the board, take the school census, hire teachers (with the consent of another member of the board, but not employ a district school officer without consent of two-thirds of the voters), and draw orders on the treasurer. The school director of the district shall, within ten days after the annual district meeting, deliver to the county superintendent a report, under oath, showing the whole number of children belonging to the district between the ages of 5 and 21 years, according to the census taken aforesaid; and any district board neglecting to take the enumeration and make a return of the same shall be liable to said district for all school moneys which such district may lose by such neglect. Within ten days after the annual district meeting the director shall report to the county superintendent the number attending school during the year under 5 and the number over 21 years of age; whole number that have attended school during the year; whole number in the district between the ages of 7 and 15 years; whole number in the district between the ages of 7 and 15 years that have attended school not less than twelve weeks during the school year; length of time the school has been taught during the year by a qualified teacher, length of time taught by each teacher, and wages paid to each; total number of days all scholars between the ages of 5 and 21 years have attended school during the year; amount of money received from the county treasurer during the year, and the amount of money expended by the district during the year; number of mills levied for all school purposes; kind of books used in the school; number of children to whom text-books are furnished, and kind of books; amount of bonded indebtedness; such other facts and statistics as the county superintendent shall direct.

The district school board shall have the general care of the schools, and shall have the power to cause pupils to be taught in such branches and classified in such grades or departments as may seem best adapted to a course of study which the school boards of any county shall establish by the consent and advice of the county superintendent thereof, and the school board of each district shall cause a record of the advancement in each branch of study of all the pupils to be kept in a book to be provided for this purpose; and it is hereby made the duty of each district board, or of one of their number empowered by the board, to attend all meetings called by the county superintendent for the purpose of adopting or revising a course of study for the advancement of district schools, of making rules and regulations as they may think necessary for the government and health of the pupils, and of devising such means as may seem best to secure regular attendance and progress of children at school.

High school district.-Any district containing more than 150 children from 5 to 21 years of age may elect a district board consisting of 6 trustees, 2 to retire annually, vacancies being filled by the board until the next meeting of the district. The board shall have power to classify and grade the scholars in such district, and cause them to be taught in such schools and departments as they may deem expedient; to establish in such district a high school, when ordered by a vote of the district at an annual meeting, and to determine the qualifications for admissions to such schools; to employ all teachers necessary for the several schools of said district; to prescribe courses of study and text-books for the use of said schools, and to make such rules and regulations as they may think needful for the government of the schools and for the preservation of the